WARREN, Mich. — Chip Ganassi Racing will add a second V-Performance Academy Cadillac DPi-V.R and three new full-time drivers to its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship team next season.
Piloting the two entries will be returning Cadillac DPi-V.R veteran Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn. Three of the four drivers have competed in the Cadillac DPi-V.R in the past with Bamber being new to the car.
Van der Zande, with one win this season at Detroit in the V-Performance Academy Cadillac, is looking forward to working with his new teammates for next season and competing for the championship.
“It is great news to have Sebastien, Alex, and Earl as new teammates,” van der Zande said. “They are all high-class, proven race car drivers. I think they will be a good fit with the team. Sebastien has done everything in the world, he has a lot of raw speed. I know Earl very well from our junior series and he’s an LMP1 overall winner. Alex comes to us from Formula E and has a lot of sports car experience. I feel great about coming back with the Chip Ganassi Racing team. I feel more at home than ever with them. They put a lot of responsibility on everyone. Chip and Mike Hull run a great operation, that is why they have been successful. Although I can’t wait until next year, we still have Petit Le Mans coming up, so we need to finish 2021 strong.”
Bourdais, a four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, comes over from the JDC-Miller Motorsports team to compete for the full season.
“I’m super excited to reunite with Chip Ganassi Racing,” Bourdais said. “We have had our fair share of successes in the past and I can’t wait to start working with the drivers like Renger, Earl and Alex. This is obviously a bit of a turning point in my career, that will see me transitioning most of my attention to sports car racing, but I remain in the GM family. I can’t thank everyone involved enough for their trust and continued support. I am convinced Cadillac, Chip, Mike (Hull), Steve (Eriksen, team manager) and the entire team will give us all the tools we need to drive our cars to victory lane. Bring on 2022!”
Lynn has two starts in the Cadillac DPi-V.R and brings his Formula E and Le Mans experience to the fold.
Bamber will be making his first start in a Cadillac at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January after coming from sports cars and the Porsche LMP1 program where he won overall at Le Mans in 2015 and 2017.
The team will announce driver pairings and endurance drivers prior to the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona in January.